Supported Nonmetallocene Olefin Polymerization Catalyst, Preparation Method and Use Thereof

Abstract

The present invention provides a method for supporting a nonmetallocene olefin polymerization catalyst, comprising the following steps: a carrier reacts with a chemical activator to obtain a modified carrier; a magnesium compound is dissolved in a tetrahydrofuran-alcohol mixed solvent to form a solution, then the modified carrier is added to the solution to perform a reaction, then filtered and washed, dried and suction dried to prepare a composite carrier; a nonmetallocene olefin polymerization catalyst is dissolved in a solvent, and then reacts with said composite carrier, then is washed and filtered, dried and suction dried, to prepare a supported nonmetallocene olefin polymerization catalyst. The present invention further relates to a supported nonmetallocene olefin polymerization catalyst as prepared by this method. The present invention further relates to the use of the supported nonmetallocene olefin polymerization catalyst in an olefin polymerization and an olefin copolymerization between two or more different olefins. In one specific embodiment, the present invention relates to the use of the supported nonmetallocene olefin polymerization catalyst in a slurry ethylene polymerization. The present invention provides a new type of catalyst that improves the polymer morphology, increases polymer bulk density and enhances polymerization activity.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD[0001]The present invention belongs to the technique field of heterogeneous catalysts, specifically, relates to a method for preparing a supported nonmetallocene olefin polymerization catalyst, which is a method for supporting a nonmetallocene olefin polymerization catalyst on a carrier, and to the supported nonmetallocene olefin polymerization catalyst prepared by this method. The present invention also relates to the use of the supported nonmetallocene olefin polymerization catalyst in an olefin homopolymerization and a copolymerization between two or more different olefins. In a specific embodiment, the present invention relates to the use of the supported nonmetallocene olefin polymerization catalyst in a slurry ethylene polymerization, in other words, a slurry ethylene polymerization under reduced pressure by using the supported nonmetallocene olefin polymerization catalyst of the present invention.BACKGROUND ART[0002]It is well known that a homogeneous transitio...

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Benefits of technology

[0102]In the present invention, the object of overheat-activating the silica carrier is to provide the carrier surface with a high reactive group. It is reported (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1996, 118: 401) that when the drying temperature is 200 to 500° C., the easily removable hydroxyl group is removed from the surface reversibly to form a silicone group of low reactivity, but when the drying temperature is over 600° C., the hydroxyl group is forcedly removed and converted to water, thereby forming a silicone group of high ring stress and very high reactivity. A chemical activator may be used instead, to convert the functional groups on surface of the carrier into inert silicone groups.

[0103]Generally speaking, in the present invention, the composite carrier may directly contact with a solution of the nonmetallocene olefin polymerization catalyst of this invention, thus a supported nonmetallocene olefin polymerization catalyst of high activity can be obtained after completion of the supporting step. However, it is discovered in the present invention that, to obtain a supported nonmetallocene olefin polymerization catalyst of even much higher activity, the composite carrier is preferably further treated into a modified composite carrier. The extra activity obtained with this step overwhelms the cost incurred by this treatment step.

[0121]It is well known for technicians in the art that, a sufficiently washing, filtering, drying and suction drying of the supported catalyst obtained is very important for obtainment of a catalyst of high activity and subsequently a polymer with good particle morphology. By washing and filtering, unbound substances can be removed, and by drying and suction drying, affinity with the reactants can be improved.

[0123]Another object of the present invention is to use the supported nonmetallocene catalyst of the present invention to carry out an olefin polymerization or a copolymerization between different olefins. The novel method of the present invention eliminates the defects of poor regularity of the polymerization products formed and production of only low quality polymer products, associated with the traditional non-supported Zeigler-Natta catalyst. When the supported nonmetallocene olefin polymerization catalyst according to the present invention is used to carry out the olefin polymerization and copolymerization, polymer products of better regularity are obtained, so as to fulfil the requirements of producing high quality products.

Problems solved by technology

In case of a homogenous polymerization, the formed polymers would stick on the reactor tank or adhere to the stirring puddle, which has serious influences on the normal operation of the reactor and the heat exchange of the reaction mass inside the reactor, thus hindering the continuous production in industry.

In addition, in the homogeneous catalyst system, a large amount of a co-catalyst, for example, methylaluminoxane, is required, thus increasing the production cost of polyolefins, and adversely influencing the properties of the products due to the large amount of co-catalyst introduced, in some cases, the aluminum component introduced during the polymerization process may have to be removed in a post-processing step, thus further increasing the process cost.

Furthermore, the phenomena of stick on the tank often occurs during the polymerization process.

In EP 685494, the bulk density of the polymerization product may be decreased by reacting methylaluminoxane with a hydrophilic oxide, using a polyfunctional organic cross-linking agent and then an activated MAO / metallocene complex, as a result, it is not appropriate for an industry use.

WO 97 / 26285 describes a method for preparing a supported metallocene catalyst under high pressure, resulting in a prolonged production cycle and lowered supporting efficiency.

But the supporting process is not economic.

However, this method needs a microwave generating apparatus and the operation is rather complicated.

The supporting method requires that the catalyst is sufficiently soluble in the solution, otherwise the supported catalyst can not be guaranteed with respect to the supporting uniformity and the loadinging of the catalyst.

The catalyst prepared using anhydrous magnesium chloride as a carrier exhibits a higher catalytic activity in the olefin polymerization, but this kind of catalyst is very brittle, prone to crush in the polymerization reactor, resulting in a poor polymer morphology.

But the patent gives no specific data on the granule properties of the polymers.

However the proposed process is relatively complicated and requires many preparation steps.

However, after the nonmetallocene catalyst is supported on an inert carrier, its catalytic activity in the olefin polymerization is more or less decreased, in some cases, the activity is even decreased by one order or more, resulting in a uneconomic use of the supported catalyst.

What is more is that, after the activity is decreased, ash is increased in the obtained polymer, and a step for deashing needs to be added in the production, resulting further in the increment of the cost and the complexity of the production plants, thus restricting its further use in production of polyolefins.

But the high-pressure process has very severe requirements for equipment and costs quit a large of capital investment.

It needs less energy to recover the resulted polymers, with a low investment and production cost.

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